


Three Dates

by youtomyme



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 02:37:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3192140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youtomyme/pseuds/youtomyme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three dates that Rufus Drumknott had with three different men: a restaurant in the city, a bar in the country, and a coach ride through the streets of Ankh-Morpork. Somehow, the coach ride is the most romantic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Dates

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt 'If there’s one thing the world has too much of…'. Hover over * for footnotes.

Rufus glanced a page in his diary, not for the first time. The map Ethan had given him to the destination of their date was of a part of the city he had not been to before, and Rufus was nervously following it, trying not to look around in case anyone thought him suspicious. The smells of the River Ankh were almost completely non-existent up here, a mark of how high-class the area was. Rufus felt out of place and underdressed, even in his finest suit that his sister had ordered for him on his recent eighteenth birthday.

As the streets became wider and more devoid of litter, something Rufus had not hitherto thought was possible of any place in Ankh-Morpork, he gazed upon the grand shopfonts. Only those who could afford to know exactly what sort of meat they were buying came here. It was what people at home in the Ramtops _thought_ the city looked like.

‘Aha, finally! Rufus!’ a voice called.

He looked around and smiled in relief when he saw Ethan standing in front of a restaurant, waving to him. Ethan’s dress was characteristically casual: a modern button-up with no jacket, but he still looked impossibly debonair.

‘I thought you were going to be late,’ Ethan said.

‘So was I, for a moment,’ Rufus answered, beginning to feel shy. Up close, the splendour of La Symphonie’s façade was intimidating, and he felt nervous enough about going out on his first date.

‘Never been up here on the other side of the river? Well, it’s about time you saw it. There’s more to life than school, you know.’

So people always told him. ‘Thank you for inviting me here.’

‘Thank you for agreeing to come out with me,’ Ethan said cheerfully. ‘Come on in.’

He said, as if he was inviting Rufus into his own home. Rufus tried to remember everything that he had been taught in the past two years, to be calm and composed at all times, but he was so overwhelmed.

A waiter showed them to their table, and appetisers appeared on their table about five seconds later. 

‘Impressive, isn’t it?’ Ethan said, picking up a menu. ‘I was last here on my thirteenth birthday. I thought it a pathetic place to celebrate becoming a teenager, but it’s the most romantic place I know.’

Rufus picked up his own menu to hide his blush.

‘What would you like to eat?’ Ethan asked. He gave Rufus a grin over his menu and said, ‘And don’t say “the cheapest thing on the menu”, it’s on me.’

‘I hardly know what any of these dishes are,’ Rufus said. ‘I’ll have something you’re not having then.’

‘Good idea.’ Ethan waved over a waiter and Rufus cautiously began prodding his appetiser.

It was a _good_ evening, with an orchestra playing a pleasant song in the background and the restaurant not too warm for this time of summer.

‘I do like being rich,’ Ethan said happily over his pheasant. ‘Or rather, I like having rich parents who give me a rich allowance.’

That made Rufus laugh, though it sounded slightly strangled to his ears. Every moment impressed him with grandeur, and he could not feel at ease. To his dismay, Ethan didn’t seem to notice.

Still, it _was_ nice, and very gracious of Ethan to spend his allowance on him. Ethan even walked him as far as Maudlin Bridge and kissed him goodnight, which pleased him a great deal.

-

When Lucas had said he would go with Rufus and his sister to their mother’s house in the Ramtops as his secret boyfriend, Rufus had said, ‘You can go as my known boyfriend instead if you prefer’.

To Rufus’ amusement, Lucas had looked subtly disappointed at this, as if he had been looking forward to deceiving Mrs. Drumknott. But he agreed* and they went.

The first day went quite well, Rufus succeeding in occupying Lucas by showing him the small village in which he’d grown up. Unfortunately for Rufus, it was a bit _too_ small for his rambunctious boyfriend.

‘Did you know there’s a pub in the next village?’ Lucas said to him in the afternoon.

‘Yes.’

‘Well, let’s go there tonight. Not with Daniel and Annie or anything. Just us two.’

‘No, I don’t think so.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’d rather stay at home. I’m here to visit my _mother_.’

‘Oh, we’ll be here for another two days, she can miss you for one night.’

‘She misses me for every other night in the year,’ Rufus said. 

Several hours later, he was inexplicably being dragged to the pub.

Admittedly, it was quite nice to meet some of his childhood friends from the village there. Those who had stayed in the village thought of him as being a gentleman, having been educated in the city, and were somewhat in awe of him. It was less pleasant when Lucas drifted away from him to buy drinks and make friends of everyone else.

‘Drink, Rufus?’ Lucas said when he’d had the presence of mind to return to who he was supposed to be dating*.

Rufus shook his head. He had no objection to drinking, but he didn’t think his mother would approve. He _had_ come up specifically to see her ... the guilt crept up his spine, making him anxious.

‘You overthink things.’ Lucas patted him on the arm and smiled quite nicely. ‘There’s more to life than just work and taking care of your family, you know.’

The way Rufus saw it, if he counted Lucas as part of his family, there really wasn’t.

‘Alright, be a wet blanket then.’ Lucas rolled his eyes and left Rufus sitting alone.

An hour later, a young woman was listening to Lucas so intently, she was almost in his lap. He ignored Rufus politely asking him if he would like to go back twice, so Rufus returned by himself, deciding that Lucas didn’t really count after all.

-

The morning disappeared into noon with alarming swiftness; it was summer in Ankh-Morpork, and with it came the holidays and tourists, diplomatic visitors, parties, balls ... the list went on, and so did the work in the Oblong Office.

‘If there’s one thing the world has too much of,’ Lord Vetinari said as Drumknott quietly slipped inside the Oblong Office, ‘it is paperwork.’

Drumknott permitted himself a smile. ‘Sir?’ he said.

‘Go and get my coach ready, will you?’ Vetinari looked up from his work. ‘I’d like to go out for a while. Tell the cook to pack lunch too.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Would you like to come?’

‘Of course.’

‘Lunch for two then. I will come down momentarily.’

Vetinari appeared only a minute or two after Drumknott had placed their things inside the carriage. He had brought a briefcase of unread letters and some files he thought Vetinari might want to look at if he had the chance because he didn’t actually know where they were going. 

His lordship spoke to the driver himself – Drumknott could not hear what he said – before nodding at Drumknott and getting inside. Drumknott sat next to him as usual and the coach drove off.

He wanted to ask where their intended destination was, but Vetinari didn’t seem to want to be asked. He merely looked out the window at the river as they crossed Brass Bridge onto Lower Broadway and moved on.

Well, he would speak to him when he wanted him. Drumknott took out the unread letters and made to peruse them.

‘Rufus,’ Vetinari suddenly said, and Drumknott looked up, startled.

‘Yes ... Havelock?’

‘What are you doing?’

‘I was thinking I might as well get started on some of the letters that arrived in the afternoon,’ Drumknott said carefully, unsure of what the answer should be.

‘Ah, I see. You can put those away for now, Rufus. I’d like to speak to you.’

Rufus did so, saying, ‘What is it that you wanted to speak to me about?’

‘Oh, nothing in particular,’ Havelock said, his gaze drifting out the window again, and Rufus understood. He thought for a moment, and decided to simply be frank.

‘Did you just want to go out with me, Havelock?’ he asked. ‘I suppose tea in our private rooms does get rather dull after a while. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go out on a proper date?’ he went on, as Havelock appeared to want him to hold up most of the conversation.

‘We can’t.’

‘Well, we can do this.’

Havelock looked at him again, smiling faintly.

‘I never thought I’d see the day when _you_ would complain about too much paperwork.’

‘Don’t be so surprised, Rufus. It would be far more uncharacteristic for _you_ to say it.’

‘I haven’t said it yet.’

‘Even here, when we are alone, you tried to do work. It’s often said that it is unwise to devote yourself entirely to nothing but work, you know.’

‘Don’t you disagree with that?’

‘It suits me. I don’t think it suits you.’

‘Why not? I’ve never known anything else.’

‘You’re still quite young, Rufus. Do you not wish to get married –‘

‘Not at all,’ Rufus said firmly, though he fully felt the danger of interrupting his master, even when he was being his lover. For some strange reason, Havelock sometimes felt that their relationship was inappropriate. Of course, it was, in a manner of speaking, but ... ‘I would tell you if I ever change my mind.’

‘You say that as if you are sure you never will.’

‘I feel sure now. That is everything I can give you.’ A brief pause, and Rufus said, ‘I feel the same way about you sometimes. As a matter of fact, I feel that it is more fitting for _me_ to feel this way than you.’

‘Your meaning?’ Havelock said, raising an eyebrow.

‘You’re so much more than I am. You may get bored of me someday.’

Another pause. ‘My dear Rufus, I think there is a flaw in your line of thinking.’

‘I think there’s one in yours too. I would be puzzled as to why a man as intelligent as yourself would allow himself to worry about the future when he should really just concentrate on what he has at that moment if I weren’t flattered that it means you care deeply for me.’

‘Of course I care a great deal for you,’ Havelock said, just a little too quickly, and Rufus smiled.

‘I know,’ he said. He waited several seconds before saying, ‘Now would be an appropriate time for you to kiss me.’

Havelock did not do the right thing, and instead said, ‘It would?’

‘Yes. We have reached a comfortable middle ground after coming dangerously close to quarrelling, so you should kiss me to demonstrate that we are not, in fact, quarrelling.’

‘But you know that we are not.’

‘The moment is _going_ , Havelock,’ Rufus said, trying to sound stern.

Havelock _did_ lean over then, cupping Rufus’ cheek with a gloved hand and pressing their lips together. He didn’t dare linger long, pulling back after only a few seconds, but at least he did it. 

‘This is quite nice, isn’t it?’ Rufus said, picking up their lunch and leaning his head against Havelock’s shoulder while he unwrapped it. ‘Would you like to do this more often?’

‘Yes,’ Havelock said. ‘I would.’


End file.
